mcneill



3 Sheets-Sheet I. J. McNElLL.

Tucking Attachment for Sewing- Matthines. No. 69,461. Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

YXiZZI/e-S sea 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. McNEILL;

Tucking Attachment for Sewing Machines.

No. 69,461, Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

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- 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. McNElLL.

Tucking Attachment for Sewing Machines.

Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

JOHN McNElLL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

min- Patent No. 69,161, dated 0mm 1, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN TUOKING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES;

din tlnhule return t0 in tin-st ,irttns intent inn making part at tlge same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that 1, JOHN McNEILL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Tucking Attachment for Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the some, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, sheet 1, represents a side view of sewing machine having my attachments for making tucks or 'plaits applied to it.

Figure 2 represents a tront end view of the same.

Figure 3 is a side view of the creasing device attached.

Figure 4 isa top view of the plaiting device detached.

Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, are details.

Figure 10, sheet 2, is a. top view of the device for making the first plait, attached to the bed-plate of a sewing machine.

Figure 11 is a cross-section of the same, taken in the line 3 3 fig. 10.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to provide an attachment for sewing machines for making the plaits or tucks in shirt-bosoins, ladies skirts, dresses, or garments of any description, whereby the material is creased and folded to any sized plait. and sewed through the three folds or thicknesses of the plait. to finish it completely at the same time. i

This invention consists in an adjustable pressure-plate secured to the head or front end of a sewing machine, the foot of which plate is connected with a horizontal plate, so formed and arranged fiat on the table or bedplate of a sewing machine as to guide and fold the linen or other material in a crease, which is formed in it by means of a pair of creasing-plates operating at the right distance for the size of the plaits, one plait forward of the plait that is thus folded to be sewed; and also a separate plate for turning and sewing the first plait, all of which devices are simple and easily managed, and perform the work of making plaits running from end to end of whole pieces of material at a time, to be afterwards out up into proper lengths for shirt-bosoms, 8.50., thus effecting a grcatsaving of time andlabor, and performing the work with perfect accuracy and the best finish.

A represents a portion of the supporting-arm of a sewing machine, 13 the needle-bar, C the presser-foot, and D the bcdplate. On the head of the machine is fastened a pressure-plate, E, formed in two parts, a a. The upper part a is secured to the head by a set-screw, b, passing through a horizontal slot, 0, to permit of adjustment sidcwise, as shown in fig. 2. The other part, a, is attached to the parta by a set-screw, 32, passing through a slot, 0, as seen in fig. 8, to permit of adjustment at the foot of the part a, according to the width of the plait required, as shown in fig. 1. The lower end or foot of the part a of the pressure-plate E is placed on the upper side of a folding gauge-plate, F, to which it is secured by fiangcs c c on the sides of the folding gauge-platc F, as shown in figs. 1, 2, '-l, t, 9. For guiding the material into-the folding-plate F, a horizontal guideplate, G, is placed over the bed of the machine in connection with it. This guide-plate G is formed of three sides of a parallelogram. The end of one of the sides, (Z, is inserted in the fcldingplatc F, under the foot a of the pressure-plate E, as shown in 1, 2, -l, J, to hold it in place, while the other end, cl, reaches and lies with its point just below the edge of a slotted forming-plate, H, which also lies over the bed of the machine, as shown in figs. 1 and 2. The end tZ' is free, and the linen or other material to be worked passes under it over the bed-plate of the machine, as seen in red in fig. 1, when the plait is folded and sowed, moving between the end ti and the edge of the formingplate H, in such a manner that the material ispartly formed into a plait by being doubled up in the crease which has previously been made in it by a connected creasing device to be hereinafter described. Thus the plate G guides, and in conjunction with the plate 11 partly forms, the plait,.while the material passes on into the folding-plate F, to be finished and sewed the proper width of the plait or tuck. The folding-platc F is placed over one side of the forming-plate H, which on that side is a little elevated above the bed-plate, as shown in fig. 1, and the forward end of the folding-plate is turned over and then back under itself to form a lap, s, which receives the material and folds the lait to a gauge width accord= lng toits own length, as seen in fig. 1. Thus the folding plato F serves also a gauge-plate, and will be changed to suit plaits or tucks of different widths, narrow or wide, the lap 8 being made of the required length for each sized plait, while in other respects the plate is the same as shown in the details, fig. 7. The plates E and H are made adjustable to adapt them to plaits of difi'crentwidths, by means of the set-screw I1, connecting the parts a it together, as previously described, and the set-screw b which secures the plate It to the bed of the machine, passing through the slot 0 as seen in figs. 1 and 4. Plaits or tucks of any width may therefore be made by adjusting the plates E H and changing the folding gauge-plate F, having the lap k, to suit in its length the required width. For creasing the material to form the plait by foldin down evenly in the crease. in the manner already described, a. creasing device is attached in connection, which operates for one plait in advance of the plait being folded and sewed, andsimultaneou ly with those operations. The creasing device consists of two parts, one ofv which, 1 is a flat slotted plate that is secured to the bed 1) by a set-screw, b", fig. 1, passing through the slot 0, fig. 5, on one end of which plate 1 is a square edge against which abuts a shoulder, n, of the other plate, g, as shown in place in fig. 3. The plate is fastened on the presser-foot t by a set-screw, b, passing through the slot c, fig. 6. Instead of a square shoulder, 11, a groove in the end of the plate g may work over a tongue on the edge of plate g. By means of the slots a" 1- and the set-screws If I), the creasing-plates 7 7 are adjusted to suit plaits of any desired width, in conjunction with the folding-plates previously described, the operation of creasing being performed on the material as it passes by the needle between the edge of the plate 9' and the shoulder n of the plate 1 as shown clearly in fig. .lO, sheet .2, by the movement of the presser-foot (I. For forming the first or outside plait of a set of plaits or tucks, a separate special plate is employed, as represented in figs. 10 and 11, sheet The plate .l\', provided with a slot, 1"", is secured to the bed D by a set-screw, If, and its end in is turned over and doubled upon itself to receive the linen or other material and fold it down evenly to form the plait of any required width, as shown clearly in fig. ll. The material passes through the lapped end of the plate K, as represented in ig. 1], to form the first plait to be sewed, and to be creased for the next plait, as shown in fig. 10. The end in of the plait that is doubled up to form the tucli projects at the side, to support and guide the material, as seen in fig. 11.

The operations of creasing the linen or other material to form a. plait of proper width with the creasing device I, of guiding, breaking down, and forming the plain by following the crease in the material by means of the guide-plate G and the forming-plate H, and of folding the plait to the right width by the folding-plate F, are all conjointly and simultaneously performed for sewing and finishing the work, as described by the several parts respectively Havingjhus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is--- 1. The combination of the creasing device 1 the pressure-plate E, the folding-plate F, the guide-plate (l, and-the forming-plate H, constructed as described, the said combination being organized substantially as described, that by its mode of operation the plaits 0r tucks of shirt-bosoms or other garments shall be creased, folded, and finished, by sewing when attached to a sewing machine.

2. In combination with the above, the folding-plate K, having the end m doubled and turned in upon itself for forming the first or outside one of a set of plaits or tucks, constructed and operating substantially as described.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 14th day of May, 1867.

JOHN McNEILL.

Witnesses:

ALEX. F. Rosnnrrs, J. A. SERVICE. 

